Most children given school of choice

Families have been told which primary school their children will attend in September – with all but 99 being given one of their schools of choice.

Parents had until February 16 to send West Sussex County Council a list of their three preferred schools, and 8,951 applications were received by the planning and admissions teams before the deadline.

Of these, some 8,852 (98.9 per cent) were offered one of their three preferred schools.

Some 8,157 (91.1 per cent) were allocated their first choice of school, 541 (6 per cent) were allocated their second choice, and 154 (1.7 per cent) were allocated their third choice.

Parents who failed to submit their applications before the deadline have been told their children will only be allocated a school place once the on-time applications have been dealt with.

The figures were an improvement on last year, which saw 98.1 per cent of the 9,271 applications allocated one of their three choices of school, and 176 applications allocated a school other than those.

Any parent who would like to appeal the council’s decision can complete the online appeal form at www.westsussex.gov.uk/schoolappeals . If you do not have access to the internet, you can call the Contact Centre on 0845 075 1007 and a form will be sent to you.

Once the appeal form is submitted, a hearing will be arranged, though it may be several weeks before is heard.

You should be notified of the date of your appeal at least 10 school days in advance. Appeals are not heard during school holidays. All appeals for places at a particular school will be heard before any decisions are taken.